1984 Alfa Romeo Spider 2.0 on 2040-cars

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2015 Alfa Romeo 4C Spider First Drive [w/video]

New cars are getting, to quote Alice during her Adventures in Wonderland, "curiouser and curiouser." Take the Alfa Romeo 4C, a car from a mass-market European brand with supercar-like construction at a price that starts under $55,000. The exotic looks on the outside are countered with an almost pre-war era lack of frills on the inside, but the 4C drives like a street-legal go-kart when you put it to work. That price is either a bargain or a ripoff, depending on your priorities. This oddity now has a topless variant in the 2015 Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, which is almost identical to the coupe at first glance. On the stat sheet, two numbers separate this open-top car from its closed-cabin sibling. The first is ground clearance, which goes down in the Spider: 4.4 inches here compared to 4.5 inches in the coupe. The second number is 22. That's how many pounds the Spider gains by losing its roof, for a claimed weight of 2,487 pounds. Alfa Romeo senior product planner Fabio Migliavacca says none of that mass comes from body reinforcement. The 4C's carbon fiber tub was engineered for convertible duty from the go. Alfa Romeo engineered the 4C's carbon fiber tub to handle convertible duty from the beginning, so the roof on the coupe – made of the same sheet-molded compound as the rest of the body – isn't a structural member. The Spider's canvas soft top accounts for an extra 14.3 pounds, making it heavier than the roof on the coupe. And yes, you read that correctly, the Spider comes standard with a canvas top. The optional carbon fiber roof panel costs $3,500. In fact, the options list is so full of woven composite accessories that, during the presentation, one journalist asked if the $1,595 charge for destination and handling could also be had in carbon fiber. The other 7.7 pounds comes from small alterations. The Spider gets larger mufflers – 11-liter cans here, as opposed to eight liters on the coupe - for a richer exhaust note. The car's rear haunches are reshaped to be fuller than those on the hardtop, and the engine cover is now a single solid piece, without the coupe's revealing clear insert. A few changes on the Spider will come to the coupe, including a pair of cellphone pockets, one next to each seat. The awful Parrot stereo goes away, replaced by a more friendly Alpine unit. Some coupe options are standard features on the Spider, like the full leather interior. Two of the six seat styles and four of the six available wheels are exclusive to the Spider.

Alfa Romeo 6C could return in 2020

Keep your salt shaker handy, because you might need a grain or two for this rumor, as scrumptious as it may be. According to German tuner Pogea Racing, Alfa Romeo is planning to revive the 6C nameplate, with a production launch in 2020. The company posted its inside info on its Facebook page, citing "an absolute trustworthy and legit source" who is "very deep into the decisions of the management of Alfa Romeo." According to the post, we can expect to see the Alfa Romeo 6C introduced at one of the major auto shows in 2018 or 2019. If true, the rumor is exciting, but not totally surprising. FCA is growing its investment in the Italian brand, along with its lineup. We've already learned of Alfa's plans for an SUV larger than the Stelvio, which could offer seven seats and a mild hybrid system. The addition to the lineup of what we could assume to be a coupe larger and more expensive than the Alfa Romeo 4C, and meanwhile bringing back a classic nameplate, doesn't seem farfetched. After all, we've heard similar rumors before, with the 6C reportedly planned as a competitor to the Jaguar F-Type. Under the hood, the Giulia Quadrifoglio's 2.9-liter twin-turbo aluminum V6 — good for 505 horsepower and 443 pound-feet of torque — seems like the perfect fit for the 6C. The 6C nameplate has roots in six-cylinder road and racing cars beginning in the 1920s. To see it revived after decades of hibernation would not only be interesting for fans and potential customers, it would be symbolic of the company's continued growth under the FCA umbrella. Related Video:

Alfa Romeo's Super Bowl commercial is about dreams and reinvention [UPDATE]

Update 2: Alfa Romeo keeps rolling out the Super Bowl ads. The post has been changed to include the third ad and information about it. Update: Alfa Romeo had not one, but two new Super Bowl commercials, and this post has been edited to include the second one. Alfa Romeo's Super Bowl commercial talks about the things we've dreamed of since we were kids, like riding on dragons and flying cars. It also covers the various life lessons many of us learn, including how to be true to oneself. All the while, images of childhood, growing up, and vintage Alfa Romeos are spliced together. It covers some heartwarming ground, but it's all a bit broad and borderline vague. The idea seems to be that Alfa as a company has learned the same lessons we do growing up, and that it all pays off with its new models. The second ad is much better, and is all about Alfa's strengths: driving enjoyment, passion, and other cliched Italian automotive characteristics. It shows a new Giulia Quadrifoglio cruising some gorgeous mountain roads, and the driver talking about being one with the vehicle and loving the experience. The bit about letting something go if you love it was cheesy, but this was a commercial that really showed what Alfa Romeo is all about, and we liked it. Check it out above. Alfa's third Super Bowl ad of the night continues what the second one started. This one focuses on the most powerful Giulia's beauty, and, well, power. It's apparently both breath-taking and breath-giving. Check out the commercial above. Related Video: Image Credit: Alfa Romeo / YouTube Alfa Romeo Super Bowl Commercials Videos super bowl li